49ers still the NFL's gold standard after loss to Browns
The San Francisco 49ers didn't do a lot right in their loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, but their poor performance in a gut-wrenching 19-17 defeat wasn't enough to dislodge them from the top of the NFL, at least by one measuring stick. San Francisco, even after going down to its first defeat […]
The San Francisco 49ers didn't do a lot right in their loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, but their poor performance in a gut-wrenching 19-17 defeat wasn't enough to dislodge them from the top of the NFL, at least by one measuring stick.
San Francisco, even after going down to its first defeat of the campaign, remains number one in the NFL in DVOA, per the metric's creator Aaron Schatz.
The 49ers have a new nearest challenger in that regard, with the Detroit Lions moving up to number two following their comfortable win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
San Francisco is in a three-way tie atop the NFC with the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles at 5-1 after Philadelphia joined the Niners in suffering their first defeat of the season. The Eagles were beaten by the New York Jets.
But DVOA still sees the Niners as the class of that trio and of the entire NFL, with a heartbreaking loss on Jake Moody's missed game-winning field goal not enough, yet, to change the overall perception of a team that ran roughshod over all comers prior to an error-strewn showing in Cleveland.
The quality of San Francisco's roster and the displays the 49ers put on tape before falling victim to a stunning upset is undoubted, but the challenge they face now is to respond quickly to their first adversity of the season and return to the standards no team in the league has matched during 2023.
49ers rally round Jake Moody after rookie kicker’s missed game-winner
They refused to blame him for the loss.
